Lost.

MY ENERGY. If you've seen it, please send it back to me! I really want to feel like I can master an entire day without the need of three {or more} naps. No one told me growing a child was so exhausting....and really, I'm not even growing it anymore...just fattening it up for a few more weeks. :)

Maybe I'll find a little jolt of energy with that Banana Cream Pie Blizzard I've been craving for the past few days....yum. :P Fingers crossed....

36 days

And counting {36 days!---more or less--hopefully less ;-)}....the nursery is basically finished. I'm waiting on a couple of photos to put on some shelves, I still have to wash all of that stuff sitting on the dresser, and probably vacuum-dust-etc. again before Bubs arrives. No big rush though, I'll just wait for my nesting instinct to kick in again.

I think my favorite part about the nursery is that it has a theme but isn't entirely matchy matchy. I also love that there's a little piece of Taiwan in there {Musical Woodstock on the closet doors, the bird mobile in the window}. I guess really the only thing missing is Bubs. :)

Also on my "must do" list: Pack my hospital overnight bag. Can you guys think of anything besides the standard stuff you recommend I pack? {I've already accounted for lots of socks, slippers, chapstick, and my own travel-sized toiletries.} I figured I better get it done since my Dr. asked me about it at my appointment last week. She'll probably ask me again next week too and every week after that until I have it done....I can't believe how close this is getting....

Without further adieu, a photo tour of Bubs' nursery:

Husband Revenge

This made me laugh. {Score 1 happy point on my crabby mood today!}

Under my skin

I'll say it: I'm crabby. I've been this way for a week and I don't like it. I can tolerate most people, I still enjoy my friends and family {most of them}, and Blake is the only one that I'm truly still patient with. I actually think he just knows when I'm crabby and he's figured out how to successfully manage it, bless his heart.

My wish for the week is to un-crabbify. I need to appreciate my co-workers, all the little tyrants around school I have to face everyday, the brides needing help with their wedding music {OH THE BRIDES!!!!}, the random people asking me if I can teach their "angel children" piano, etc. Wow, typing all of that out is irritating.....I've never gotten a manicure, a massage, or any type of relaxation treatment before, but I really just think I need one. However, you will be hard-pressed to convince me to actually spend the money on one...

I'm screwed.....doomed to be crabby until this child sleeps through the night....

P.S. The weekend getaway was a nice vacation from my crabbiness. I only had to deal with Blake, my friend, Michelle {who was awesome enough to hang out with me, exploring IKEA} and a bunch of strangers. That was lovely. I'm just pissed I returned to Iowa feeling every bit as crabby as I left it.....aren't you glad you know me? ;-)

Free weekend

Blake has to go to a seminar this weekend. As I have a rare weekend free, I'm tagging along. I figured while he's in seminar, I'll do some looking around, vegging out {watching the Olympics!}, or whatever my little heart desires. Normally, I probably wouldn't tag along, but the rental car, gas, hotel room, etc. are paid for, so I'd be crazy not to enjoy one last weekend away from home with the hubby before Bubs arrives. :)

Maybe I'll have some neat stuff to blog about when I get back. Until then, you can check out Manchester, IA's zoo - Cricket Hollow Zoo. Crazy, right? MANCHESTER, IA has a zoo! We're planning on seeing Blake's family over labor day, so maybe we'll take a little trip there. Only $5 for adults! I still can't believe Manchester has a zoo.....

I can't believe it

Ben is really a senior in high school....the baby of the family is going to be off on his own soon enough. I have to fit in lots of pick-on and torture sessions before then. IDEA: Maybe I'll make him baby-sit! hehe. :)

Today, we took some photos of him for his senior pictures {I did an ok job on Brian's with a digital camera 4 years ago, so Ben thought he'd give my photography skills a whirl and attempt to save the parents some $$}. Some of them turned out very nice. Here are some of my faves:


If you've got some time to kill, you can watch the slide show below of all of the top choices + a few of the crazy shots that were never intended to be used for his senior pics {i.e. the one where you can see Blake's silhouette behind the sheet}. Also, any of the pics that you see with an umbrella was Ben's idea. I was just using it as a sun shade. :)

Intriguing

Three things have my attention these days:

1. Planning my fall work schedule. Sort of a pain, as it starts in a couple weeks, but I'm trying to plan it so that it will work once Bubs is here and I'm off maternity leave. I think I should give up, I'm sure my schedule will change...I've never had a kid before. I have no clue what I'm doing.

2. Wondering if my belly button will pop. By the end of the day, it's pretty shallow, and a few nights ago, I probably could have gotten it to pop if I had messed with it more. However, I messed with it enough that it was red and irritated. I don't know how to feel about the belly button pop. Part of me thinks it's an endearing quality of a pregnant belly, and the other part just says, "oh man, my belly button popped out."

3. The Woombie. Blake and I did get a couple other specially designed swaddling blankets as gifts, but I'm pretty interested in these right now....maybe I'll order one. :)

Because we can

LOL....our poor future child. :) For now, the bear gets all the torture!

Once we've mastered the baby bathtub, maybe Blake and I can practice changing diapers on the bear. hehe.

Kari - this one's for you! :)

Mod

One of the ladies from my pregnancy forum recently posted pics of her future son's {Ace} nursery. I wanted to share them because it's modern, cool, and based on a Shel Silverstein theme. I love Shel and his books {We already have The Giving Tree as part of Bubs' collection}! If I was any sort of an artist, I might have thought about trying to copy the idea sometime in the future. Check it out {or see the whole photograph tour here}:

Ickle me, pickle me, tickle me, too.

Cravings

Lately, my biggest craving (outside of fruit) is for sweet things, usually something with chocolate. These "No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies" have been a lifesaver. I usually eat two of them a day, and I feel good about it {I cut the recipe in half, and store the cookies in my fridge}. There is a fair amount of oatmeal for fiber, peanut butter for protein, probably a smidge of calcium, and of course, the bad-for-you chocolate and sugar. :) But, Bubs sure likes them!


Recipe:
2 c. sugar
1 stick margarine
2 T. cocoa
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 t. vanilla
3 - 3 1/4 c. oatmeal

In medium saucepan, melt sugar, margarine, cocoa, and milk. Bring to a boil, and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. Mix well. Drop by tsp. on wax paper. Cookies will harden as they sit.

The best part about them is that they are quick and easy to make. Sure, they take awhile to harden on the wax paper, but if I don't have any pre-made and a craving sneaks up on me, I just eat the cookies hot. Yum!

We need your opinion - please? :)

We had some odds and ends contact paper left after we covered Bubs' shelves, so we decided to be creative with it. I had seen something like this done on HGTV once, so we thought we'd try it out {click on the picture for a bigger view. We left one door in its original form for comparative purposes}:


As the dots on the contact paper are only blue and brown, we feel like it's a bit more boy-oriented. On the other hand, it matches our "dot" theme to the nursery. Those facts aside, we're just not sure if it's something we want to keep or if we're better off leaving the doors plain. What do you think? Yay? Nay? Cute if we have a boy? Remove if we have a girl?

We appreciate all comments as we're clearly clueless and impartial {for the most part}. It was just a good waste of time and we felt better {and more efficient} putting that extra paper to use. :)

Sneak Peek

Remember this?

Blake and I have modified it a little bit {Multi-colored string} and made one of our own for Bubs' nursery. So far, we only have ultrasound pics up, but I'm super excited to add to it!


Full nursery tour coming soon! I want to make sure I have blankets washed, tags removed, windows cleaned, carpet vacuumed, etc. before I invite you all in. It's kind of like I'm expecting house guests. ;)